| September 23, 2003
MIAC Profiles of Excellence, Hamline's Emily Peterson
Rich Mies, College Sporting News
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| Emily Peterson |
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Most student-athletes attending schools in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference had several colleges to choose from within a 60-mile radius of their home. But if your home school district is nearly the size of the state of Ohio, what are your college options? That’s the dilemma Emily Peterson of Hamline University faced, but through family connections she discovered the St Paul school that has been her home since fall of 2000.
Emily grew up in Copper Center, Alaska, a small town of about 500 located 200 miles northeast of Anchorage. She attended Glennallen High, which was one of three high schools in the entire school district. “We’re in the heart of the Copper River Valley, about 200 miles northeast of Anchorage or about 10 miles from where the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred,” Emily noted. “Glennallen drew from all the little towns like Copper Center in the area. There were about 150 kids in the senior high my senior year. My graduating class was 30 kids.”
She was active in sports during her years at Glennallen, running track and playing basketball and volleyball. In track, she competed in the long jump her sophomore and junior years. She ran the 300-meter hurdles as well, and finished sixth in the State Meet as a senior. Emily was also part of the 400-meter relay team for three years; they qualified for the State Meet in her sophomore and junior years.
On the basketball court, Emily played junior varsity her freshman and sophomore years. “We had a good varsity team my sophomore year, made up of mostly seniors,” she recalled. She started on the varsity her junior and senior years, and was named All-Conference as a senior. “We didn’t enjoy as much team success as we would have liked, but it was still a lot of fun. Our region was very strong and competitive.”
“Volleyball was—and is—my favorite sport,” said Emily. “It was also my best sport in high school.” She was a four-year starter, and earned All-Conference honors her junior year. Her senior season was marred by injuries. She endured a sprained ankle and a pulled muscle, which limited her playing time, and hurt her chances at repeating as All-Conference. “We had some pretty good teams in my years, but we never made it to the state tourney,” said Emily.
Emily’s family has roots in Minnesota. “My parents were from Minnesota. My dad’s family is scattered across the Iron Range while my mom’s family is mostly in the Twin Cities,” she stated. “In fact, I was born in Minnesota, but we moved to Alaska when I was four. But we’d come back to Minnesota about every other year to visit my grandparents and the rest of the extended family.”
As a senior, she was contacted by a few of the smaller colleges in the area, but was not actively recruited by any for sports. She was told by the volleyball coaching staff at Alaska-Anchorage that she could walk-on as a freshman, and had the opportunity to earn a scholarship if her play was good enough. Meanwhile, her uncle’s fiancée began telling Emily about the excellent education she received at Hamline. “She was from a small town too, so she could relate to my concerns about going to a large university and becoming ‘just a number’,” said Emily. “Everything she told me about Hamline appealed to me: the small classes, the good education, the opportunities, and the fact that I could have all that and still play sports. She felt Hamline was a good place, and would be a good fit for me. From what she told me about it, I thought the same thing.”
She contacted Hamline, and began exploring the St Paul university as an option. “Another plus would be that I’d be near family,” said Emily. She applied for the Presidential Scholarship at Hamline. As part of the process, she came down to Minnesota in March of her senior year to interview for the scholarship and to look over the campus. She was quite impressed with the school, and the committee for the scholarship was impressed with her as well. She was one of the recipients of the scholarship, which is based on academic excellence among other criteria. The scholarship sealed her decision to attend Hamline.
At Hamline, Emily has been a four-year starter on the volleyball team. “One thing I noticed right away was that things were more specialized by position here,” said Emily. “The level of play in the MIAC is demanding, as there are many very talented players in the league.” She is one of three seniors on the Hamline team this year and was elected one of the team’s tri-captains. She was named to the Academic All-MIAC teams her sophomore and junior years, but has not made the All-Conference team for her play “at least not yet,” said Emily with a laugh. “But I hope to this year.” Another goal for this year is to help Hamline make the MIAC playoffs. “We finished 1-10 last year, but I think we are going to surprise a lot of people this year,” she said.
On September 9, Emily etched her name into the school record book by recording her 2,286th assist. The old mark, held by Jodie Knudsen, had stood for over ten years. Barring injury, she should finish her career with well over 2,700 assists, with 3,000 not an unattainable plateau.
Before the season started, Hamline brought in a new coach, Gina Rollie, in hopes of building up the program. Coach Rollie has enjoyed working with Emily: “I have only coached Emily this season but have found her to be an amazing student-athlete. She is highly committed and extremely intelligent. She has improved this season with every match and has really made a difference when it comes to leadership and role modeling to the younger players. Emily is a positive player with great skills and an incredible attitude. I only wish I had more years to coach her. She has meant a great deal to the Hamline program the past four years and will leave her mark in “the record books and off the court as well.”
Emily is an English major, on pace to graduate in May. She is carrying a minor in Education & Certification. She plans to complete her student teaching in the fall of 2004. “Then I hope to find a job as an elementary teacher,” said Emily. “I’ll probably stay in Minnesota for at least a couple of years. I like the Twins Cities area a lot. There is so much to see and do here; it is a fascinating place. But I’m not ruling out going home to Alaska, either, at this point.”
One of the things Emily is most proud of getting involved in during her years at Hamline the programs Hamline has with Hancock Elementary School. “Hamline has numerous programs with Hancock, which is a nearby elementary school,” explained Emily. “In my four years, I’ve gotten involved in several of them. I’m especially involved in ‘Hand In Hand’, which is a mentoring program similar to Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Al the work with Hancock has been rewarding and has helped me grow.”
Emily is also active in the Student-Alumni Board, which is in its second year of operation. “The Board’s goal is to get alumni involved with students,” stated Emily. “We do things like job shadowing, retreats, and things that help foster communication and networking between our involved alumni and students. We’ll be very active during Homecoming/Reunion Weekend.” Emily was elected Vice-President of the Board for the 2003-04 academic year.
Being this far away from home hasn’t fazed her. “Since the nearest high school for us to play was about 100 miles, long trips for games were common,” said Emily. “Plus I got involved in the Northwest Volleyball Camp program, which is similar to an AAU program. I was lucky enough to be chosen to participate in a tour that took us to Australia for 2½ weeks when I was 18. THAT was an awesome experience!”
Hamline has been a positive experience for Emily. “Its really been great here, no question,” said Emily. “It is a great school, and has been challenging academically and athletically. It has presented me with some great opportunities, and the chance to meet some great people and develop relationships with them. I was a little apprehensive about living in “the big city” but it hasn’t been as crazy as I thought it would be. I was expecting it to take a big adjustment, but that hasn’t been the case.”
Emily had some very particular goals when she set out to find a college. “I wanted to find a place where academics would be number one, where I could get a good education. But I also wanted someplace where I could compete in athletics. I am lucky to have found Hamline. It has filled both of those goals. I really love it here.”
Um... I'm from Minnesota. And my dad WENT to Hamline... and I almost applied too. Craaaazy stuff one finds when one googles one's self. |
